The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to go on strike if the Federal Government sells national assets.

In a statement in Lagos, the union’s Public Relations’ Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojugbana, advised the government not to sell the assets in the interest of Nigerians.

The statement was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

NAN reports that there have been calls for the sale of national assets to cushion economic recession

Ojugbana described the moves as unpatriotic, saying that the sale would further impoverish Nigerians.

He said that it was wrong to solve the country’s short-term economic problem by handing over collective common wealth to a few individuals.

“We will not watch our national assets sold, especially those in the oil and gas industry such as NLNG that has become a huge revenue earner for Nigeria; refineries and shares in the upstream oil and gas JV operations.

“Any attempt to sell these assets will be resisted as PENGASSAN will ensure that every activity in the oil and gas sector is brought to a halt,” he said.

Ojugbana said these assets had been generating revenue and would still generate revenue for the country.

He said that the planned sale was ill-timed, unwarranted and would not serve national interest.

He added that no nation could develop, survive or feel secure after selling all national assets.

Ojugbana said that doing this would further mortgage the future of the country in the hands of few who could take advantage of it to loot the country’s wealth.

He advised that instead of selling the assets, the government should look for other ways of increasing the revenue base of the country, while plugging loopholes and leakages in government’s finances.

The PENGASSAN official urged the three tiers of governments to generate money to revive the economy. (NAN)

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